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United States v. Coker

433 F.3d 39 (2005)

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United States v. Coker

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
433 F.3d 39 (2005)

  • Written by Arlyn Katen, JD

Facts

Edward Coker (defendant) set three small fires inside an apartment building and left a fake Molotov cocktail at the scene. Shortly after, police found Coker nearby in a car and retrieved many objects matching witnesses’ descriptions from Coker’s car. Two witnesses promptly identified Coker. Local police charged Coker with burning or aiding in the burning of a dwelling house and a property-destruction crime. Coker retained an attorney. The county fire department notified the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) of the Molotov cocktail. An ATF agent interviewed several witnesses while local police were present. A few days later, ATF agents asked Coker to consent to an interview although the ATF knew Coker had a lawyer in the state case. Coker waived his Miranda rights and confessed to setting fire to the apartment building. Coker was federally indicted on an attempted-arson charge, and he moved to suppress the confession because it violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The district court denied Coker’s motion to suppress, and Coker was convicted of attempted arson. Coker appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Torruella, J.)

Concurrence (Howard, J.)

Concurrence (Cyr, J.)

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